Improvement in the manufacture of japanned leather



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JEREMIAH L. NEWTON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND WM. VVIOKERSHAM.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF JAPANNED LEATHER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 58,733, dated October 9, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEREMIAH L. NEWTON, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful commodity-to wit, raw hide japanned or varnished in a manner similar to what is known by the name of patent-1eather; and I hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying samples herewith, marked, respectively, A and B; and in order that others may be enabled to manufacture and use my invention, I will proceed to explain the same.

I take raw hide and remove the hair in the ordinary or any suitable way. I then secure it to a frame or in any convenient way, and stretch it while drying to secure evenness and smoothness over the surface to be varnished. After the hide is sufficiently dry I apply the varnish and dry it in a manner well known to those who manufacture patent-leather. This for some purposes may be all that is required; but in some kinds ofraw hide, especially where there is much thickness, or where a very fine finish is desirable, I subject the hide to a bath of alcohol or petroleum-oil of a high degree of volatility. The probable effect of this is to wash out of the surface a part of the oil, thereby allowing the varnish to penetrate farther, dry better, and with a smoother surface.

For some purposes I take the hide when nearly dry and break it or subject it to the well-known processes for making them soft and pliable, as deer-skins are usually dressed.

The usefulness of this invention will be come apparent when we consider the wellknown fact that in the best modes of tanning leather more than half the strength of the hide is taken away, and in many cases in the ordinary tanning three-fourths of the strength is lost.

By my process the finest finish is produced, while full strength and durability is retained; also, by my process, I produce a substance with the finest known finish of every degree of hardness and stiffness, from that of horn to that of the softest leather. In the present advanced state of the arts as an article of ornament and utility this cannot be too highly estimated, and its appliances are innumerable.

In preparing the raw hide for japanning or varnishing by subjecting it first to an alcoholic bath, I disclaim tanning or curing hides or skins by the use of alcohol, that having been patented by William H. Somes, of date December 26, 1865.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The treatment of raw hide with japanvarnish, or other suitable varnish, as and for the purpose above set forth.

2. The preparatory process by immersing the hide in some volatile substance, in combination with and preparatory for japan-varnishing, substantially as above set forth.

3. The subjecting of raw hides to abreaking process as a preparation for and in combina tion with japanning, all substantially as de scribed, and for the purposes set forth.

JEREMIAH L. NEWTON.

Witnesses:

OHR. E. Powers, 0. G. Porn. 

